EFFICIENCY, WHAT KIND OF EFFICIENCY? CRAFT-GUILDS AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN BARCELONA, 1814-1855

Authors

  • Juanjo Romero-Marín CASB – Consortium for Advanced Studies in Barcelona
Keywords: Craft-guilds, Artisans, Barcelona, 19th century, Development, Industry, Manufactures Investment, Efficiency

Supporting Agencies

  • Proyecto HAR2014-57187-P “Crisis y reconstrucción de los mercados de trabajo en Cataluña (1760-1960). Ocupaciones
  • culturas del trabajo y estrategias adaptativas.

Abstract

In the eve of craft-guilds prohibition, in 1836, Barcelona corporations were expanding. Modern and traditional industries were developing and the city grew constantly. New and traditional manufactures lived together in the urban space and artisans kept their traditional ways of production where the group interests, expressed by guilds, prevailed over the individual ones. Adaptative strategies carried out by artisans were characterized by rationality but did not fit in the narrow definition of efficiency applied by modern economic studies. Therefore, the current paper discusses the supposed inefficiency of guilds patterns. It analyzes artisan practices like the opening up and the reproduction of trades. The paper aims at broadening the concept of efficiency beyond the workshop in order to highlight the active and relevant role of the guilded artisans in the general growth of the city.

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Published
28-12-2015
How to Cite
Romero-Marín, J. (2015). EFFICIENCY, WHAT KIND OF EFFICIENCY? CRAFT-GUILDS AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN BARCELONA, 1814-1855. Areas. International Social Science Journal, (34), 93–103. Retrieved from https://revistas.um.es/areas/article/view/247211
Issue
No. 34 (2015): Gremios y corporaciones laborales en la transición del feudalismo al capitalismo. Siglos XIII-XIX
Section
Artículos

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